Friday, February 20, 2009

No one should fault the principals, or even Superintendent McGinley, for their delight in CCSD's school report card improvements. Too bad most of the statistical improvements counted by the state did not reflect actual learning. [See School Grades Climb in Friday's edition of the P & C.]

A quick perusal of the PDF in the on-line edition shows that "improved growth ratings" were the best news to the district. Absolute ratings, while improved in some cases, were not as encouraging.

How would CCSD have fared if it hadn't improved its tracking of students in the system? How much of the improvement was due to "credit recovery" programs assisting the high school graduation rate?

So the district can tout its statistics all it wants, but are more students really graduating or are they merely being accounted for?

And are "credit recovery" programs truly educational, or are they simply a way to award (and count) a diploma that becomes more meaningless because of that process?

There is real academic news for Burke High School in one category, though: end-of-course test scores of 70 or better improved to 42 percent of test takers. That is progress, although I wonder what percentage of the test-takers who scored below 70 got credit for the course.

Benton's just another toady. He plays the game the way he's told by his boss. It's all about making the system look good. Never mind the high school students who can't read or who can't count. They can be swept under the rug. When everything is average, the kids that fall off the charts are no longer a problem to people like Benton and McGinley. The “low performers” and “non-average” get lost in the crowd. They don't even exist.

It's not just the slow kids who get the short end. The rush to become average also hurts students for whom average is the mental equivalent of standing still, if not going backwards. While we praise these lame and spineless administrators for their questionable success, who has the courage to speak of the damage they've done to the next generation?

Benton needs to go back to North Carolina. He’s already retired once on a North Carolina pension. Maybe he’s just looking to double up with a South Carolina pension, too. He's some of the deadweight Goodloe brought in and McGinley has left in place. He’s lazy and not interested in making a difference. Otherwise he would have done something meaningful for just one of those students who arrived at Burke, as he’s often complained, so unprepared.

Why hasn't ANY media discussed the issue of Sanders Clyde going from **** (average) to * (unsatisfactory or as the new guard wants to say At Risk). I think that alone proves the case of grade tampering by the past principal. But, we aren't supposed to discuss the negative, just the positive. Oh, and also McGinley's repeated comments that CCSD was going to an Excellant rating. Well, she did but not where it really counted. If they were just honest enough to give the real facts instead of their rose colored glasses facts, it would be easier to digest. Andm r. Meyers comments about the magnet bussing are nauseating. Of course he will vote for it if it comes to a vote. He just wants to pay lip service t his fellow magnet school parents.